GRAPHIC PHOTOS of a 69 year woman in a swimsuit.

You can't say that I didn't warn you about the following 'not so glamorous' bathing beauty photographs.

About one week ago, I did a blog and post about an embarrassing NSV. I had not worn my swimsuit, since October of last year, when my hubbie and I moved back to Central California. My swim suit was really a swim dress designed to cover up my old body in a size 20. It took a lot of courage to put on that swimsuit last summer, when I hadn't worn a swimsuit in more than 50 years.

I loved rediscovering the joy of swimming again and was soon swimming an hour of laps every day; but my surgeon ordered me 'out of the pool' in November, because I was scheduled for double knee surgeries in December. He didn't want me to pick up some fungus like athlete's foot, right before my surgeries.

After a long and painful recovery from my double surgeries, I was excited to be getting back in the water at a local health spa. On July 19th, I put on my swim dress and went back in the water. The top of my suit seemed loose; but then, I had deflated from a size 46DD to a size 40C in bras, since losing about 120 pounds. The swim pants also seemed a bit 'loose', especially in the back; but the elastic waist band seemed to be holding them up well enough. It was that not so bright decision that led to my embarrassing NSV.

After swimming only one lap of back stroke, it felt like my swimsuit pants were becoming entirely too roomy. They were stretching out all the way to my knees by the time I got back to the shallow end of the pool to make a quick exit. :noway:

Needless to say, it was time for a new swimsuit. So, I went home and order something in a 'slightly smaller size'. I decided to order a couple of swim dresses in size 14 to replace my very loose size 20's.

Some of my MFP sisters asked me to post a photo of my new swimsuit, when I got it. So, here is a photo of my first, new suit and some very graphic photos of my body changes since last summer.

Photo #1 - My new size 14 swim suit.



Photo number #2 - The first graphic comparison shot of me. The photo on the left was taken on the day that I almost lost my swim suit pants. The photo on the right shows a side view of me in my new suit. It is pretty obvious that I had too much room in that size 20 suit.

Please note that I was 'holding back' my upper arm 'bat wing' in the photo on the right. I only wish that my upper arm looked that thin. In the photo above on the left, you can see that excess, underarm flab.



Photo #3 - Comparison shot of me from last year to this year. My upper arms were solid fat, and I could barely fit into those size 20 swimsuit pants



Photo #4 - Another comparison shot of me, the front view from size 20 to size 14.



Photo #5 - The back view comparison shot. Boy! What a change in that butt !!!



Photo #6 - This last photo shows how really far that I have come in my weight loss journey. I was close to 290 pounds in the photo of me on the left, taken back in 2011.

I would NEVER have put on a swimsuit back then. I could barely walk and spent most of my time in a wheelchair. Standing at that podium was extremely painful. This lady on the right is 120+ pounds lighter and no longer requires her wheelchair to get around.



Some of you may be wondering why a fat, old lady would allow herself to be photographed in such a 'revealing manner'....let alone post those photos on a public site.

For so many years, I hid from cameras; or I made sure that I was taking the photos. I didn't want any photos of 'fat, old me' to be showing up anywhere. I didn't even know that the picture from 2011 existed, until this past year. I was actually grateful that it had survived. It is photos like this which let me see who I really was and who I am now.

I don't want to hid from the camera anymore. I want to see me as I really am, so that I can appreciate what losing weight has done for me.

I may not be a gorgeous bathing beauty. I know that I will never have the perfect body of a model in one of those magazines; but I am so glad that I really do look so much better now than I was in 2011 and even in 2013. These are the photos which will keep me honest and keep me working hard to lose even more weight.

If you don't have any 'before photos', take some today. You will need them in the future to inspire you and others.